“Just his mother. His dad lived in England and he died last year.”
“And what’s she like?” Tess asks.
“Very nice. Very sweet.” Very forgiving.
Tess continues to probe, appearing genuinely interested. “Sounds like you guys are pretty serious too.”
I give a self-conscious shrug. “We only recently started going out.”
Tess’s eyebrows go up in surprise. “Really? I got the impression you’d been going out for a while.”
I’m saved from giving her my watered-down version of our history by the sound of a guy bellowing my name. “Emily, the door.”
I exchange a glance with Liv. What’s someone doing at her door asking for me? My apartment is on the floor above.
“Do you want me to see?” she asks.
“No, you stay. It’s probably Kelsey.”
As I’m weaving my way around clusters of football players and their dates, Graham appears at my side, capturing my hand in his.
“You expecting someone?” He gestures toward the front door where Connor, a friend of Zach’s, is standing guard, blocking whoever’s on the other side from entering.
“No,” I reply, looking up at him.
“You know someone named Cole? He says he’s your brother,” Connor says upon our approach.
I gulp. What the hell is Cole doing here? He lives in the city, hundreds of miles away, and I just talked to him last week.
At my bewildered nod, Connor opens the door and sure enough there’s my brother and his long-time girlfriend Ginny.
Bewildered, I release Graham’s hand and step out into the hall. “Cole, Ginny, what are you guys doing here?” I’m torn between being happy to see him and worried that he’s about to ruin things for me.
Graham accompanies me into the hall and Connor disappears back inside the apartment.
“Hi, Em. You look great. I love your dress.” Ginny steps forward and gives me a warm hug.
She and my brother met in college and have been together six years. The last time I spoke to her—this past Christmas—she’d been complaining about how long it was taking Cole to propose. I like Ginny a lot, but she’s built her life around my brother—a man— something no woman should do.
“Thanks.” I look at my brother and ask again, “What are you doing here? Why didn’t you call?”
“I was going to call but your neighbor Chelsea told me you were down here.”
“Her name’s Kelsey,” I reply, automatically correcting him.
Cole gives me a lopsided grin. “What’s the deal? You’re not going to give your brother a hug?” He doesn’t wait, simply pulling me into his arms and squeezing me in a tight embrace. After setting me away, he flicks a glance at Graham and then at me with a look that asks, who’s the guy?
A pit of dread forms in my stomach. Of course, Cole has heard of him but never met him. I turn to Graham and gesture at my two visitors.
But I don’t get a chance to make the introductions.
“Cole Leighton,” my brother says, offering him his hand.
Graham shakes it. “Graham Prescott.”
Cole’s eyes narrow in recognition of his name. Or maybe it’s the accent. Graham’s the only British guy I’ve ever dated, and it had caused quite the scandal in the Leighton household. My brother’s gaze seeks mine out for confirmation.
I shift mine to Ginny as her gaze darts between me and Graham. Since she was dating Cole when it happened, she knows everything, and the half-hearted greeting she offers makes it obvious.
God, I’m in hell.
“What are you doing all the way up here?” I ask, trying to cut the growing tension in the air.
“I have a new client in Dumont and since Hugh is getting married tomorrow, I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone,” Cole replies absently, coolly eyeing Graham.
Hugh is Ginny’s older brother.
“You should have called me and told me you were coming,” I chide lightly.
“We wanted to surprise you,” Ginny offers.
Then I’d definitely say mission accomplished.
I glance down the empty hall, looking for an escape. Wishing my brother and Ginny were anywhere else but here. Wishing they weren’t making their disapproval of Graham so damn obvious. Whom I choose to date is none of their business. It doesn’t matter how much they love me.
I do the only thing I can think of. “If you guys haven’t eaten, there’s plenty of food inside,” I say, aware of the how Graham has tensed up next to me.
“We’ve already eaten.” Cole then addresses Graham. “If you’ll excuse us, I’d like to talk to my sister in private.” He directs his attention back to me. “Em, why don’t we go up to your apartment.”
If I didn’t think it would cause I scene, I would politely tell my brother to take a long walk off a short pier. But because I know my brother, I reluctantly relent and turn to Graham. “This shouldn’t take long. I’ll be back in a bit, okay?” Reaching out, I give his hand a reassuring squeeze.
The tightness of his jaw clearly conveys his feelings, and I can’t blame him for being angry. “Okay,” he replies and then returns to the party without another word.
In silence, I escort my brother and Ginny to the elevator and take the short trip up to my floor. Once inside my apartment, I turn on the lights in the entryway and stomp my way down the hall, spinning to face Cole at the threshold of the living room. “What the hell are you doing? Did you drive all this way just to humiliate me?”
“What the hell am I doing? Are you out of your mind getting involved with him again?” Cole isn’t usually the one to go all nuts, but when it comes to “protecting” me, my father and brothers always seem to lose their ever-loving minds.
“Honestly, Cole, I’m not going to go through this with you again. It was one thing when I was sixteen, but I’m an adult now and you can’t tell me who to date. You’re my brother not my father, and not even Dad can do that.”
He stares at me, his expression mystified. “After everything that happened? Why would you do this? Seriously, Em, I’m trying to understand.”
I make an exasperated sound. “God, Cole, when are you going to get it through your head what happened wasn’t Graham’s fault? He was the victim, not me.”
His cell phone ringing puts a pause in our conversation. He quickly fishes it out of his dark, tan trousers, looks down at the screen, and then exchanges a silent look with Ginny, who is slowly lowering herself onto the sofa while unbuttoning her cropped suede jacket. Cole appears to contemplate whether to pick it up before he swipes the screen and raises the phone to his ear.
“Hi.” He looks at me. “Yes, I’m here. Yes, I’m with her now.” Pause. “We’re talking,” he says, his voice clipped. “Right. I’ll call you later.”
Cole ends the call and shoves the phone back into his pocket.
“Who was that?” I ask sharply, suspicious since it’s clear he was talking about me.
Cole doesn’t answer.
Then everything becomes clear. “That was Dad, wasn’t it?”
When he doesn’t deny it, my head kind of explodes.
“Oh. My. God. He sent you here.” I stomp my foot so hard on the floor, frissons of pain travel up the backs of my shin. Ouch. Dammit all, that hurt.
“No, I told you we’re in Dumont for Hugh’s wedding tomorrow and on Monday I’m visiting a client.” Once again, his gaze seeks out his girlfriend’s, but guilt is plain as day on his face.
“But it was his idea for you to check up on me, wasn’t it?”
“I would have come anyway,” he says weakly.
“Yeah but you wouldn’t have driven up here tonight and crashed my friend’s party if not for dad, would you?”
He has the decency to not deny it, but that doesn’t prevent my anger from climbing.
“He’s worried about you.”
I jam my hands against my hips. “What, because I didn’t want him to come up for a visit? And so he sends you to sp
y on me?”
My brother lets out an exasperated huff, raking both hands through his dark-blond hair. “God, Em, stop being so dramatic. He thought you were hiding something from him and he was right, you are.” Now his tone and expression turn accusing. As if dating Graham is something I should be ashamed of. Is something I need to hide.
“After what he did? He’s the last person I wanted to know.”
“Fine, let’s forget about Dad for a second. I’m worried about you. The last time it took you years to get over this guy. Are you seriously willing to risk your emotional wellbeing again?”
“I was a wreck because of what Dad did, not Graham.”
“Oh really? Are you telling me it had nothing to do with him refusing to have anything to do with you? That he refused to see you and then he left the country? You weren’t torn up because of that?”
“Do you blame him? What would you have done if Ginny lied to you and that lie got you thrown in jail?” I turn to his girlfriend, who’s quietly watching us go at it from the couch.
“I’d never do that,” she says, shaking her head as if I’d asked her the question.
Oh for god’s sake. I roll my eyes.
Cole blows out a breath, shoves his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels, his head tipped back. He finally lowers his gaze to mine. “Em, I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Yeah, Em, we don’t want you to get hurt,” Ginny chimes in, concern clouding her eyes.
If Ginny wants to stay in my good graces, she needs to mind her own damn business. She’s not married to my brother yet. And how many times have I heard that in the last two weeks? I should make it my personal theme song.
“Newsflash, Cole, I was hurt for a long time. I lived with the guilt of ruining Graham’s life. I’m lucky he’s found it in his heart to forgive me and give me another chance. And I’m not going to let anyone ruin it for us this time.”
My brother releases a sigh of resignation. “I worry about you. We all do.” I note the gentling of his voice.
“I know you do, but you have to let me grow up and make my own mistakes.”
Cole lets out a short, dry laugh. “Yeah, well, that’s not as easy as it sounds.”
At his words, I feel the anger drain from me. My brother loves me and I love him, but sometimes all this overprotectiveness gets to be too much. “I know nothing is guaranteed, but I’m getting a second chance with Graham and I’m taking it. If things don’t work out,” I shrug, “then so be it.”
I’m sure I’ll get over the heartbreak eventually.
Cole’s lips press together as if to say, if that’s what you want, I can’t stop you, although I wish I could. “Okay. Like you said, you’re an adult now. Just remember, that’s not going to stop me from worrying.”
“Then you need to hurry up and have kids of your own to refocus your attention.”
The delicate clearing of his girlfriend’s throat isn’t subtle. Cole sends her a smile that strains around the edges. It’s the smile of a man who’s not ready to take that final step and is dealing with the pressure bearing down on him the best he can.
After a fleeting moment of awkwardness, his gaze swings back to me. “Come here, you,” he says gruffly and puts his arms around me. “I’d still worry about you if I had half a dozen kids of my own.”
His remark elicits a startled and high-pitched, “Six kids?” from the couch.
I ignore Ginny and return Cole’s embrace.
“I guess we should get going,” he says when I release him and step away.
“Where are you guys staying?” I ask with no small amount of relief, eager to get back to Graham.
“At the Hilton in Dumont.”
“Don’t say anything to Dad about Graham. You never saw him.” Yes, I’m telling my brother to lie to our father. But for a very good reason.
Cole sighs. “Em, he’s going to find out eventually.”
“I’ll tell him if and when he has to know.” Knowing my dad, he’d come up here and do God knows what, and the last thing I want is for him to scare Graham off. For Graham to decide I’m not worth the hassle of dealing with my disapproving, overprotective family.
“Fine. Have it your way. He won’t hear it from me.”
“Thanks.”
The three of us leave the apartment and I take the elevator down to the lobby to see them out.
“I’ll give you a call before I head back to the city. Now go back to your party,” Cole says, gesturing at the elevator.
Reaching up, I give him a sisterly peck, my lipstick leaving a faint mark on his clean-shaven cheek. Then I give Ginny a hug and her arms tighten around me. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing,” I assure them.
Cole smiles. “I hope so, squirt. I sincerely hope so.”
Me too, but if things don’t work out, I’ll survive. I’ll have no choice.
Chapter 29
Two hours after Emily returned to the party, we’re at my place. Her suggestion. She wanted to talk about her brother’s visit and thought since Blake is out of town, my flat was the best place to do so privately.
“Do you want something to drink?” I ask as I take her coat and hang it up on the coat rack by the front door.
“No, I’m good,” she replies, sounding decidedly more subdued that she had been in the car when she’d gushed about how well I got along with her friends. Buttering me up, because if there’s one thing I know for sure is that her brother despises me. It couldn’t have been more evident had it been posted it on a billboard.
When I take her hand, she looks up at me as if surprised by the action. I lead her to the couch, wait until she sits down before taking a seat beside her, our hands still clasped.
She stares deep into my eyes, a wariness present in her gaze. “Be honest with me. Are you mad?”
I inhale and then let out a deep breath. “You’re not responsible for your brother.”
“I’m sorry about the way he treated you.”
“You’ve already apologized for him.” Once, when she got back to the party, and then again in the car on the way here. “What did he say? That you were out of your mind for getting involved with me again?”
She idly strokes the back of my hand with her thumb. “Something like that, but I think I really got it through his head that none of happened was your fault. I think he finally gets it.” She weaves our fingers together, our palms flush and warm. “I’m his baby sister and I think he’s so used to watching out for me, he can’t help but second guess every decision I make.”
I look down at our entwined hands and then at her gorgeous face. “What did you tell him?”
“I told him to mind his own business. I told him I’m an adult and he can’t tell me what to do or who to date.”
Some might say stubborn, but to me her direct stare, angled chin and compressed lips scream implacable and resolute. Emily the adult. The person who stood beside me daring her brother to say anything disparaging to my face, and had known when to take their conversation private. I can just imagine her telling him to keep his nose out of her business. She’s sweet as hell, but when it comes to fighting for what she wants, she has a spine of steel.
“And he accepted it just like that?” I ask, looking for a bit more elaboration.
The corner of her mouth twitches in amusement. “He knows better than to argue with me.” A moment later, her expression sobers. “Actually, I think he’s finally beginning to realize I’m not twelve anymore. That I’ve grown up and I don’t need him the same way I once did.”
“Maybe that’s it. You’ve probably always been mature beyond your years and he’s been too close to you to see it.” But I did. It had been in the way she’d carried herself and her knowledge of things most teenagers her age would have no interest in like travel and other cultures, business, politics and the arts. No wonder it never occurred to me that she wasn’t as old as she claimed.
“That could be it,” she says, nodding. “I started working whe
n I was eight, so I’ve always had to be more responsible than other kids my age. Being around the people at my mother’s agency was fun and exciting. I loved modeling and dressing up and having my picture taken, and people telling me how pretty I was. That was normal to me. Of course, I know there’s a lot more to life than that, but working and dealing with adults all day makes you grow up pretty fast. Probably faster than was good for me. And in the end, faster than was good for you.” Her chin dips as she lowers her gaze to her lap.
I cup her chin in my hand, lifting her gaze back to mine. “It’s okay. We’re okay now. We can’t let the past ruin our present and our future.”
Her response is to throw her arms around my neck and kiss me. Fervently and with passion. I’m instantly hard as a rock, saluting the flag. I palm the back of her head and kick the kiss up another notch, my tongue plunging deep, my hunger exploding inside me like a lit match to a stick of dynamite.
The kiss is wild and can’t be contained, growing deeper and more frantic as my hand runs down her side, over her hip until it’s filled with the cheek of her butt. When I squeeze the firm, rounded flesh, she lets out a gasp, panting against my lips, and I’m awash in the feel, smell and taste of her. My dick can’t possibly get harder.
Emily proves me wrong by pushing me onto my back, her hair wavy and wild around her flushed face. She bites her bottom lip while she unbuttons my trousers and unzips it. I’m breathless watching her. As if registering my stillness, she pauses and flicks a look at me, her pupils dilated, her eyes blazing.
“Tell me if you want me to stop.” Her voice is smoky and passion-filled.
I don’t have it in me to growl anything beyond, “Don’t you dare fucking stop.”
Wearing a flirtatious smile on her face, she taps my hip, urging me to lift before stripping me of my trousers. When I move to remove my briefs, she lightly slaps my hand away, slowly licking her lips as her gaze locks on the bulge contained by the navy-blue cotton.
I follow the movement of her tongue and feel myself grow harder. Fuck, what I wouldn’t do to have that beautiful mouth wrapped around my cock.
Forever With You Page 25